ATLANTA – Potential workforce disruptions, supply chain interruptions and increased cyber security threats caused by COVID-19 have elevated the electric industry’s reliability risk profile. NERC’s special report — Pandemic Preparedness and Operational Assessment – Spring 2020—reviews reliability considerations and operational preparedness during this pandemic. The pandemic introduces significant uncertainty that is without precedent and highly challenging even for the most prepared of industries. However, industry is rising to the challenge, coordinating effectively with government partners and taking aggressive steps to confront these threats to grid reliability.

Currently, NERC has not identified any specific threat or degradation to the reliable operation of the bulk power system. However, as pandemic mitigation and containment strategies continue, prolonged periods of operator sequestration and deferred equipment maintenance increase industry’s risk profile and could exacerbate impacts to the bulk power system during the summer months, and potentially over the longer-term horizon.